(1) Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to herbicide compositions incorporating a monosaccharide, particularly fructose, as a potentiator for the herbicides in killing weeds without decreasing tolerance of the crop to the herbicide and to a method of use of the compositions. In particular, the present invention relates to compositions with the herbicide with the monosaccharide and adjuvants.
(2) Description of Related Art
Postemergence herbicides are well known to those skilled in the art. They include:
1. Nicosulfuron 2-(4,6-dimethoxy-2-pyrimidinyl)amino!carbonyl!amino!sulfonyl!-N,N-dime thyl-3-pyridinecarboxamide)--(ACCENT, Dupont, Wilmington, Del.)
2. Isopropylamine salt--glyphosate without adjuvants (ACCORD, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo.)
3. Primisulfuron--(methyl 2-4,6-bis(difluoromethoxy)-2-pyrimidinyl!amino!carbonyl!amino!sulfony l!benzoate)--BEACON, Novartis, Greensboro, N.C.)
4. Chlorimuron ethyl--2-(4-chloro-6-methoxy-2-pyrimidinyl) amino!carbonyl!amino!sulfonyl!benzoate-ethyl (CLASSIC, Dupont, Wilmington, Del.)
5. Glufosinate-ammonium salt--(2-amino-4-(hydroxymethylphosphinyl)butanoic acid--(LIBERTY, AgrEvo, Wilmington, Del.)
6. Linuron--N.sup.1 -(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-N-methoxy-N-methylurea) (LOROX, Bayer, Kansas City, Kans.)
7. Linuron+chlorimuron ethyl--LOROX PLUS (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.)
8. Thifensulfuron--(methyl 3-(4-methoxy-6-methyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl!carbonyl!amino!sulfonyl!-2-th iophenecarboxylate) (PINNACLE, Dupont, Wilmington, Del.)
9. Imazethapyr--(PURSUIT, American Cyanamid, Princeton, N.J.)
10. Glyphosate-Isopropyl amine salt (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine)(ROUNDUP, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo.)
11. ROUND UP with surfactant components--phosphate esters and cationic tallow amines (ROUNDUP ULTRA, Monsanto, St. Louis, Mo.)
12. Imazaquin--(2-4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2- yl!-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid)--(SCEPTER, American Cyanamid, Princeton, N.J.)
13. Glyphosate-trimethylsulfonium salt (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine)--(TOUCHDOWN, Zeneca Ag-Products, Wilmington, Del.)
For convenience, the trademarks are used in the specification, since those skilled in the art use them commonly. Also, the products can contain adjuvants as marketed.
In general, the herbicides are applied in aqueous solutions as a spray often containing ammonium sulfate or ammonium nitrate for hard water, and a surfactant as adjuvants. Various chemicals have been evaluated for efficacy as spray adjuvants for over a century (Gillette, C. P., "Experiments with Arsenates," Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin, 10, pp. 401-420 (1890)). Early interest focused on petroleum based materials. In the last 15 years, there has been considerable interest in substituting adjuvants from renewable sources, such as vegetable oils or their derivatives, for petroleum-based chemicals (Nalewaja, J. D., et al., "Crop Origin Oils as Additives to Herbicides," Proceedings Ag-Chem Uses of Soybean Oil, American Soybean Association, St. Louis, Mo., pp. 9-13 (1984)). The perspective has broadened to the potential for use of value-added products from crops such as corn (Zea mays L.) in pesticide formulation or as spray additives. Corn starch encapsulated herbicide granules for controlled release formulations were developed by Shasha et al (Shasha, B. S., et al., Journal Polymer Science polymer Lett. Ed., Vol. 14, pp. 417-420 (1976)). Both corn oil and ethanol used for ethylating the corn oil have been used in an adjuvant developed for use with postemergence herbicides (Killick, R. W., et al., Proceedings North Central Weed Science Society, Vol. 50, pp.117 (1995)). Citric acid, which can be made from corn, has also been shown to serve as a chelator adjuvant immobilizing cations such as Ca.sup.++, found in hard water that tend to form salts with anionic herbicides and reduce their absorption (Thelen, K. D., et al., Weed Science, Vol. 43, pp. 566-571 (1995)). Complex sugar containing molecules such as alkyl polyglycocides and sucroglycerides have been developed as spray adjuvants.
Imidazolinone-resistant corn varieties resistant to PURSUIT, carryover residues of SCEPTER, CLASSIC, or LOROX PLUS, and the interaction of COUNTER insecticide (terbufos (S-(1,1-dimethylethyl)thio!methyl!O,O-diethyl phosphorodithioate) (American Cyanamid, Princeton, N.J.) with BEACON or ACCENT are already in the marketplace. LIBERTY-resistant corn is scheduled for commercialization in 1997 and ROUNDUP-ready corn is scheduled for 1998. TOUCHDOWN can be used for burndown in no-till corn. Both ROUNDUP ULTRA and TOUCHDOWN contain glyphosate as the active ingredient but they contain different salts, surfactant, or adjuvants.